Android O’s new features

Last week, during the first day of Google IO 2017, the company announced Android’s newest version “Android O”. The actual name of the new update won’t be announced until the actual release. The update will of course first hit Google’s own Pixel and Nexus (still supported ones only) devices.

Video Multi-window

Google previewed some of the new features that will come with the new software update. Users will now be able to use multi-window for videos by simply pressing the home button, allowing users to jot down notes for example.

Copying Content

The new update also included the enhancement of copy paste. When highlighting content, Android will attempt to recognize the type of content being highlighted and suggest opening Gmail (if it was an email), or Google Maps (if it was an address). A welcomed feature that enhances the copy-paste experience on Android.

Notifications

Android O also supports a new way of showing notifications. Long pressing an application would show a notification window right above the app icon that was pressed. This is surely much better than simply showing a number indicating how many notifications each app has.

Google also claims that the new update will be about twice as fast as Nougat. The company also announced that they are using Kotlin as the programming language on the next Android update, instead of Java.

To learn more about Kotlin, I have found the article from Android Central really helpful.